Illinois makes it easy to vote. We can vote by mail. We can vote in person, beginning 15 days before Election Day. We can register to vote online. We can register to vote up until the weekend before Election Day.

And now, thanks to a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Pat Quinn, we can register on Election Day, Nov. 4, and then vote. The only catch is, we’ll have to go to special site, or to our Election Board or County Clerk to do that, not at our precinct polling place.

The ease of voting in Illinois is good for democracy. We are aghast at some other states whose legislatures and governors are trying hard to restrict voting by tightening requirements and shortening early voting. That’s anti-democratic, and the voting fraud they say they’re trying to stop, doesn’t exist. They made it up as an excuse to make it hard for poor people to vote.

The new Illinois law, says Quinn’s office, “will allow same-day voter registration. It also extends in-person early voting hours and removes identification requirements for in-person voting by registered voters. The law allows some public universities to serve as Election Day, in-person absentee voting centers, increases the window for vote-by-mail applications and expands early and grace-period voting throughout the state.”

“This new law will help more people across Illinois have a say in how their community, state and nation are run,” Quinn said after signing the bill into law.

We certainly agree with our governor. We have long encouraged people to vote. The only problem we have with the new law is that it’s “for a limited time only,” as the TV pitchmen say. The Election Day registration law applies ONLY to the Nov. 4 election. Then it goes bye-bye.

If you are saying “Hmmmmmm,” that’s what we said, too.

Why not make it permanent? Harmon says that’s the intent, but that lawmakers want to see how it works this year, then go back and fix any problems that might develop.

We don’t think one election will be a reliable test. A bona fide test should take place over at least two elections, including primaries, in order to have a proper evaluation. Still, you do not to make a law that disappears after one election to tweak any problems that might come up. You can make ongoing improvements.

As it stands now, this temporary law looks like a blatant attempt to increase Democratic turnout in the governor’s race, which is likely to be close. Republican candidate Bruce Rauner is a strong, well-funded challenger, and the governor admits he’s in the race of his life.

Page 2 of 2 - We urge lawmakers to make the same-day registration/voting law permanent at their earliest opportunity, to eliminate this perception (or reality) of partisanship.